Methods for assembling washer members with rotary fastener members

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates generally to improvements in methods for assembling washer members with rotary fastener members. The machine disclosed herein whereby said methods may be practiced includes a station for cascading an indiscriminately arranged supply of washer members to a rotary disc station for feeding properly oriented washer members along a circular path to an assembly station. Rotary fastener members such as screw blanks are directed from an indiscriminately arranged supply thereof along a different path to said assembly station. The fastener members and washer members are telescopically associated, and directed to a thread rolling station, for swaging the rotary fastener member to secure the telescopically associated fastener members and washer members against axial separation. Washers not accommodated by fastener members at the rotary disc station are conveyed along a predetermined path to said washer cascading station for redelivery to said rotary disc station.

Matted States Patent 11 1 1111 3,896,539 Pomernacki July 29, 1975 IMETHODS FOR ASSEMBLING WASHER MEMBERS WITH ROTARY FASTENER imaryExaminer-C. W. Lanham MEMBERS Assistant Examiner-Dan C. Crane Attorney.Agent. or III'I'II-OlSOl'I. Trexler. Wolters. [75] Inventor: HenryPomernackl, Northbrook, Ill. Bushnell & Posse, Ltd [73] Assignee:Illinois Tool Works Inc., Chicago,

Ill.

22 Filed: May 25, 1973 [57] ABSTRACT [21] App1.No.:363,842 The presentinvention relates generally to improvements in methods for assemblingwasher members Related Apphcatlon Data with rotary fastener members. Themachine disclosed [62] D1v1s1on of Ser. No. 88,942, Nov. l2, I970, Pat.No. herein whereby said methods may be practiced cludes a station forcascading an indiscriminately ar- 0 ranged supply of washer members to arotary disc sta- U-B. tion for feeding p p y oriented washer embers [51]Int. Cl. B23P 19/02? along a circular path to an assembly station.Rotary [58] Fleld of Search 29/430 200 208 fastener members such asscrewblanks are directed 10/155 155 162 169 from an indiscriminatelyarranged supply thereof along a different path to said assembly station.The [56] References Clted fastener members and washer members aretelescopi- UNITED STATES PATENTS cally associated, and directed to athread rolling sta- 1,958,l80 5/1934 Brackett 10/155 A tion, for swagingthe rotary fastener member to secure 2,271,028 1/1942 Olson 10/155A thetelescopically associated fastener members and 2,333,940 11/1943Kuehlman 10/155 A washer members against axial separation wa h not2,337,667 12/1943 Kuehlman-w 10/155 A accommodated by fastener membersat the rotary disc f 2 station are conveyed along a predetermined pathto u 10..... I I t 2,927,333 3/1960 Stern 10/155 A i gf f for redel'veryto 3,114,159 12/1963 Yoshikawa 29/208 R Stam- 3,226,74-"+ 1/1966Marechal et al. 29/208 R 12 Claims, 44 Drawing Flgures FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 549.478 ll/l957 Canada l0/l55 A 60 8 l ea J50 Z6 5 a 34E7 545 J33 94 4 5/. 50 i 1 a 2. w I I 1 PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEETPATENTEB JUL 2 9 I975 SHEET PATENTEU JULZQ I975 SE'ZEET PATENTED JUL 2 9I975 SHEET PATENTED JUL 2 91975 SHEET PATENTEI] JUL 2 9 i975 SHEETPATENTED JUL29 1975 PATENTED JUL 2 9 I975 SHEET PATENTED JUL 2 9 R375PATENTEB JUL 2 91975 SHEET PATENTEU JUL29 {975 SHEET mm Q Nww METHODSFOR ASSEMBLING WASHER MEMBERS WITH ROTARY FASTENER MEMBERS Thisapplication is a division of application, Ser. No. 88,942, filed Nov.12, 1970, now US. Pat. No. 3,750,206.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION One of the problems incident to the practice ofmethods of assembling rotary fastener members and washer members is thatof providing an adequate rate of delivery of properly oriented washersto the station at which such washer members are to be telescopicallyassociated with the shank of a rotary fastener member. It is possible tofeed washerless screw blanks to a thread roller at relatively highspeeds. However, it has not been possible heretofore, to maintain thisrelatively high speed of delivery to a thread roller of screw blankshaving washer members telescopically associated therewith. This is dueto a number of factors such as, for example, the inadequate rate atwhich properly oriented washer members have been fed to the location atwhich each washer member telescopically receives a rotary fastenershank. Another factor is that the rate of telescopic assembly of thefastener members and washer members and subsequent rate of advancement,has heretofore been inadequate. Conventional reciprocable type threadroller dies are adapted to operate at the rate of at least 400 strokesper minute. Methods heretofore available for telescopically assemblingrotary fastener members and washer members have not had the capacity toeven approach such speeds of operation.

It is, therefore, an important object of the present invention toprovide methods whereby rotary fastener members and washer members maybe telescopically preassembled and subsequently advanced at speedscommensurate with the speed of available reciprocable thread rollerdies. The rotary threaded fastener members and washer members thusassembled are commonly referred to as fastener units. In fact, thepresent invention contemplates the production of fastener units atspeeds well in excess of 400 per minute.

More specifically, the invention contemplates improved methods wherebywasher members may be cascaded or delivered to a washer feeding stationin such a manner as to materially increase the speed of producingfastener units.

A further object of the present invention is to provide highly efficientmethods of the type set forth above, which will assure completetelescopic association of the rotary fastener members and washer membersat a relatively rapid rate as these parts are advanced toward theswaging or thread rolling station.

Another object of the present invention is to provide unique methods asset forth above, for assembling rotary fastener members and washermembers of varied sizes.

To assure an adequate supply of washer members to be cascaded to therotary washer feeding station, the present invention contemplates anovel arrangement for receiving the excess of cascaded washer membersand recirculating said excess members to the cascading station forredelivery to the feeding station.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing and other objects andadvantages will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptionwhen considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a machine for assembling rotaryfastener members and washer members which is representative of oneembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of a marginal portionof the washer conveying disc, disclosing one properly oriented washermember registered with a pocket and another improperly oriented washermember being ejected from a pocket;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary, vertical, sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 5-5 of FIG. 3, disclosing the improperly oriented washermember being discharged from a pocket;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the washer feeding disc andthe channel arrangement for receiving unaccommodated washer members fromsaid disc and recirculating said washer members to the cascadinglocation;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary detailed sectional view taken substantiallyalong the line 7-7 of FIG. 6, disclosing the manner in which a properlyoriented washer member is accommodated by one of the disc pockets;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the washer feeding disc mechanism andassociated structure as viewed along the line 8-8 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is an enlarged plan view disclosing the washer feeding disc andthe two associated rotary feeding members for advancing telescopicallyassociated fastener members and washer members;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of the rotary feedingmembers of FIG. 9, said view being taken substantially along the line10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the rotary feed ing member adaptedto receive telescopically assembled fastener members and washer membersfrom the washer feeding disc, said view being taken substantially alongthe line 11-11 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 12 is a detailed sectional view of the rotary feeding mechanismshown in FIG. 11, said section being taken substantially along the line12-12 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 13 is a view similar to FIG. 9, and taken substantially along theline 13-13 of FIG. 10, more clearly to illustrate the structuralfeatures of the rotary feeding member which receives aligned fastenermembers and washer members from the rotary washer feeding disc;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the cam device for guiding the lowerextremities of the screw members as shown in FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a vertical, sectional view taken substantially along the line15-15 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 16 is a detailed, sectional view taken substantially along the line16-16 of FIG. 17.

FIG. 17 is a plan sectional view taken substantially along the line17-17 of FIG. 15, illustrating the gear train arrangement of the drivingmechanism;

1. The method of assembling rotary fastener members with washer memberswhich comprises feeding a mass of washer members along a given path,cascading washer members from said path downwardly into association witha plurality of washer accommodating pockets moving along an inclinedcircular path, removing unaccommodated washer members from said circulaRpath, feeding rotary fastener members having a washer receiving shankalong a different path into juxtaposition and alignment with washermembers from said circular path, telescopically assembling said members,swaging said rotary fastener members to secure washer members againstdislodgement therefrom and recirculating unaccommodated washer membersalong a predetermined path to said first mentioned path.
 2. The methodof assembling rotary fastener members with washer members as set forthin claim 1, including the step of recirculating washer membersunaccommodated by said pockets along an inclined path to the firstmentioned path.
 3. The method of assembling rotary fastener members withwasher members as set forth in claim 1, including the step of vibratingsaid washer members during the recirculation thereof so as to cause saidwashers to advance forwardly and upwardly along an inclined path to thepoint of cascading.
 4. The method of assembling rotary fastener memberswith washer members as set forth in claim 1, including the step ofsuccessively advancing said rotary fastener members into juxtapositionand alignment with washer members cascaded from an indiscriminatelyarranged mass thereof.
 5. The method of assembling rotary fastenermembers with washer members as set forth in claim 4, including the stepof forcing said fastener members axially to assure complete telescopicassembly thereof with complementary washer members.
 6. The method ofassembling rotary fastener members with washer members as set forth inclaim 1, including the step of cascading the washer members in the formof an indiscriminately arranged mass into association with said washeraccommodating pockets, selecting only those washer members occupying apredetermined position of orientation into registration with saidpockets, and then recirculating the unaccommodated washer members alongsaid predetermined path to the point of cascading.
 7. The method ofassembling rotary fastener members with washer members as set forth inclaim 1, including the step of advancing the telescopically assembledmembers along a second circular path, before swaging the rotary fastenermembers.
 8. The method of assembling rotary fastener members with washermembers as set forth in claim 7, including the step of divertingcompletely assembled fastener and washer members from said secondcircular path into a third circular path before swaging the fastenermembers.
 9. The method of assembling rotary fastener members with washermembers as set forth in claim 7, including the step of elevatingfastener members during movement thereof into alignment withcomplementary washer members, and then lowering said fastener membersinto telescopic assembly with complementary washers before diverting theassembled members from said second circular path.
 10. The method ofassembling rotary fastener members with washer members as set forth inclaim 9, including the step of applying pressure axially of saidtelescopically associated members to assure complete telescopic assemblythereof after diverting the assembled members from said second circularpath.
 11. The method of assembling rotary fastener members with washermembers as set forth in claim 1, including the step of selectingunaccommodated washer members from the lower area of said inclinedcircular path and recirculating such washers to the first mentionedpath.
 12. The method of assembling rotary fastener members with washermembers as set forth in claim 1, which includes feeding rotary fastenermembers along a second circular path into successive juxtaposition andalignment with complementary washer members in the first mentionedcircular path, subjecting the aligned fastener members and washermembers to partial telescopic assembly and moving said aligned andpartially assembled fastener members and washer members along the secondcircular path.